Milea’s army wasn’t just repelled, it was utterly destroyed every time they moved one inch inside the Kingdom’s territory. To make matters worse, Thrud didn’t leave the command of her troops to one of her generals like the Royals did.
She led them herself, charging into battle first.
Her exploits were broadcasted via the Kingdom’s interlink, growing her reputation with each skirmish. To her citizens, she wasn’t just an invader, she was a hero that protected their country, putting her life at risk and fighting on the frontlines.
It boosted the morale of her armies and her territories while also dispiriting the enemy’s. Not only were the members of the Royal army and the Association scared by the prowess that Thrud’s army showed.
They also secretly started to wonder if with her as their new Queen, the Kingdom might be able to reconquer the territories that had been lost after Valeron’s death and return to its former glory.
The peculiar nature of the conflict that limited the movements of big armies and the possible methods of attacking the enemy, had turned the War of the Griffons into what reminded Lith of a game of castle conquering.
The most effective way to seize any fortress was to send troops inside, retake a Warp Gate, and then let the troops swarm in. Attacked from the inside and the outside at the same time, any stronghold would fall quickly with a minimum number of civilian casualties.
The problem was that while the Royals had to infiltrate elite soldiers, have them reach the Gate bypassing all the security measures, and use the Royal Override, Thrud just had to send her Emperor Beasts that could use Spirit Magic to quickly Warp to their destination.
Before the Royals understood what was happening, months had passed and Thrud had expanded her territories, controlling one-third of the Country. Their only advantage over her was the Royal Override.
It allowed them to take control of a Gate without the need of its password or those of the arrays protecting it, but aside from that, it was an uphill battle that became steeper with each day.
Winter had finished and spring had arrived. Lith hadn’t left Lutia since Vastor’s wedding because he had too many things to do and the Royals preferred to keep him at the ready in the case they needed his expertise as a diagnostician.
The death of the god of healing had left the Kingdom exposed to the trickery of the Undead Courts and their plagues, but it had also robbed Lith of hope.
He had considered Manohar a friend and the only person who could find a way to fix his cracked life force without needing to use the Odi’s Body-Swapping machine and losing his powers as a Tiamat.
He and Solus worked non-stop on his golems, the Sage Staff, and their equipment. The Fury had greatly improved Solus’ Forgemastering prowess but she needed time to get accustomed to its powers and to develop a new technique capable of tapping into its full potential.
The slightest mistake would make the energy running through the Fury wild, overcharging their creations into oblivion. They often had to go to the Desert to have Salaark fix Solus’s mess and the War of the Griffons made their travels’ secrecy of the utmost importance.
Luckily for them, Tower Warp couldn’t be detected by any means and the Overlord had no problem showing them the mana geyser where she would move her palace next.
Lith was really happy for Solus. After learning the truth about Menadion’s death and recovering her hammer, Solus had been depressed for several days until she had stopped looking at the hammer and had started using it.
Her morale had improved by leaps and bounds with every little thing she mastered of the Fury until she had fully recovered. Having a Forgemastering hammer made of Davross that could generate copies of itself allowed them to hone their crafts, but only to a certain extent.
Solus was almost 700 years old but her death had reset her body and she had still a deep blue core. Salaark had lacked an amplifier in remaking the Fury and it was something they still needed.
Also, the hammer worked great for Solus, but Lith still needed one of his own. As long as they had the same energy signature, the copy of the Fury he used had no need to turn his mana into hers, yet Lith worried for several reasons.
He could see how the hammer had been crafted specifically for someone like Solus and to employ the movements that Menadion had etched so deeply in her being that even her memory loss didn’t affect them.
Yet for someone of his build and with a completely different Forgemastery style, it felt off. Also, if one day Solus completely recovered, their crafts would become her crafts, which irked him to no end.
Last, but not least, an amplifier that worked for her wouldn’t work for him and vice versa, just like she couldn’t use all the perks of Abyssal Gaze due to the lack of his bloodline abilities.
Lith and Solus still made amazing progress in that time, putting their hearts and souls in their work until the Spring Festival was around the corner. It was an ancient festivity that Thrud held dear to the point of requesting a truce for that day.
She wanted to just be a mother and share her past with the little Valeron. The Royals had promptly accepted her request. They could use the time while the enemy played around to have their troops recover and plan a new strategy safely.
For Lith and Solus, however, the Spring Festival had a different meaning. It was the day when she had finally awakened from her slumber and she had interacted with Lith for the first time.
It was the day of her birthday. Now that Solus had been introduced to his family and had gotten her body back, she was so excited at the idea of celebrating the anniversary with them that even the thought of the war didn’t bother her anymore.
“By my Mom, it’s finally my birthday!” She would often repeat while literally walking on air. “I have so many things that I want to do that I don’t know if I can fit them in a single day.”
“First, it’s not your birthday yet.” Lith pointed out, but not to curb her enthusiasm. “Second, you have not celebrated your last fifteen birthdays so if you want to prolong the event for a whole fortnight, I’m okay with it.”
“Really?” She said, squirming with joy.
“Really.” Lith carried a heavy burden and even losing one day was a lot to him, but Solus deserved much more than that.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She jumped at his neck, hugging him tightly. “I want to throw a party for sure. Then maybe we could go to the Eclipsed Lands and-”
Lith’s communication amulet draw their attention and cut her off.
“Gods! It’s Peonia again.” Solus grumbled.
After Vastor’s marriage, the Princess had often contacted Lith to talk about his manor and to request his presence as her date during several official events. She had even kissed him in public, raising a scandal and her parents’ hope for marriage.
